New Study:Most Plastic Products Release Estrogenic Chemicals

[burtlancast]

A published 2011 study reveals most plastics release bisphenol - like products, even those claiming not to.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/?term=1 ... hp.1003220

Background: Chemicals having estrogenic activity (EA) reportedly cause many adverse health effects, especially at low (picomolar to nanomolar) doses in fetal and juvenile mammals.
Objectives: We sought to determine whether commercially available plastic resins and products, including baby bottles and other products advertised as bisphenol A (BPA) free, release chemicals having EA.
Methods: We used a roboticized MCF‑7 cell proliferation assay, which is very sensitive, accurate, and repeatable, to quantify the EA of chemicals leached into saline or ethanol extracts of many types of commercially available plastic materials, some exposed to common-use stresses (microwaving, ultraviolet radiation, and/or autoclaving).
Results: Almost all commercially available plastic products we sampled—independent of the type of resin, product, or retail source—leached chemicals having reliably detectable EA, including those advertised as BPA free. In some cases, BPA-free products released chemicals having more EA than did BPA-containing products.
Conclusions: Many plastic products are mischaracterized as being EA free if extracted with only one solvent and not exposed to common-use stresses. However, we can identify existing compounds, or have developed, monomers, additives, or processing agents that have no detectable EA and have similar costs. Hence, our data suggest that EA-free plastic products exposed to common-use stresses and extracted by saline and ethanol solvents could be cost-effectively made on a commercial scale and thereby eliminate a potential health risk posed by most currently available plastic products that leach chemicals having EA into food products.
Key words: bisphenol A, endocrine disruptor, endocrine-disrupting chemical, estrogen receptor binding, estrogenic activity, plastic. Environ Health Perspect 119:989–996 (2011). doi:10.1289/ehp.1003220 [Online 2 March 2011

 

[charlie]

Re: New study:Most Plastic Products Release Estrogenic Chemi

Well isn't that wonderful.

 

[burtlancast]

Re: New study:Most Plastic Products Release Estrogenic Chemi

We have all been beaten over the head for the past 50 years that sperm counts decrease worldwide , in nearly every species, and it's a complete mystery to science.

Guess not anymore.

The article seems to suggest the researchers have identified or synthetised themselves plastics that don't release these bisphenol- like products; maybe there might be a conflict of interest here.

 

[jyb]

Re: New study:Most Plastic Products Release Estrogenic Chemi

The suspicion that these plastics is responsible for this sperm count reduction has been out there for years (general public friendly books). After reading RP however, I wondered if just the diet (pufas) couldn't be a more likely explanation: modern diet is estrogenic, not just plastics.

 

[burtlancast]

Re: New study:Most Plastic Products Release Estrogenic Chemi

Perhaps.
But the reduction in sperm count happens even in wild animal species, across all sizes and types ( herbivores, carnivores, omnivores).

 

[Memento]

Surprisingly little talk about detoxing these substances from your body. I couldn't find much else than eat cruciferous veggies & fiber. Any thoughts? I suspect that I got a boatload of some plastic toxins few months back during washing a shitty plastic carpet.

 

[Wagner83]

Haidut did some research for that and he found squalene should help (the references may be in the gonadin OP). I think I read a study on tea catechins too, but tea may have anti Thyroid effects.
Effects of tea catechins on the ERE-regulated estrogenic activity. - PubMed - NCBI

 

[Memento]

Thanks, I need to look further into the subject, but seems that these are some gruesomely nasty chemicals. Likely they are now stored in my fat tissues and elsewhere.